Communiqué
AREVA Employee Carries Olympic Torch
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| Barry McCallum runs with the Olympic Torch in Halifax. |
It may only have lasted a minute, but it is a moment Barry McCallum, manager of Nunavut affairs for AREVA Resources, will remember for the rest of his life. On November 18th, he participated in the 2010 Olympic Torch Relay in his hometown of Halifax, Nova Scotia.
"At about 8:00 a.m. Saskatoon time, for a little over a minute and for 300 metres, I carried the Olympic Torch." Barry says. "I expected it would be a good experience but was surprised at how great it was. While I was waiting for the torch, parents were bringing their children for pictures with the torch (and me). While I carried the torch, ahead of me was a motorcade of police cars and a float full of people dancing to music. Directly ahead of me was a press van with an open back of people with cameras. Surrounding me were four security people and behind me were more Mounties. The sidewalk was lined with well wishers."
"You'll be surprised to learn I took to the attention quite quickly, set a good pace and waved to the well wishers that from my vantage point looked like fans," he adds." I guess this can be called my moment of glory. This only made my bucket list after I received the invitation, but I gladly checked it off as accomplished today. Now I can stop that annoying run I was doing every morning to train for this."
The Olympic Torch began its journey across Canada on October 30th in Victoria, B.C. It has already made a swing through the North, stopping in Yellowknife, NWT and Cold Lake, Alberta before landing in La Ronge on November 7th. The stops are brief and the runs are short, but the community celebrations are lively and usually last through the day. La Ronge celebrations began with a pancake breakfast, reached a peak of excitement with the arrival of the torch around noon and continued through the day with entertainment, food booths and various events.
 Did you know?
The Vancouver 2010 Torch Relay represents the longest single country relay in Olympic history. Between October 30 and February 12, the torch will travel 45,000 km across Canada. The 12,000 torches used in the 2010 Relay were designed to burn in colder temperatures than ever before, allowing the torch to be carried further North than ever before.
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